Friday, February 8, 2019

Kill Bill: ADF swoops into NE to take out 2 bills targeting conversion "therapy"; one is withdrawn

KETV and KMTV are reporting that Senator Megan Hunt withdrew a bill (LB168) defining conversion therapy as child abuse, which it certainly is. From KMTV:

Today, Nebraska Senator Megan Hunt filed to
withdraw a bill that would classify conversion therapy as child abuse.
Hunt said she chose to withdraw the bill with support of LGBTQ+
advocates. Though she has withdrawn one bill, another is still up
for discussion which would prevent licensed medical providers from
administering conversion therapy.

Here's the statement from Senator Hunt:

Lincoln, NE— 2.7.19 — Today, with the support of LGBTQ+ advocates,
Senator Megan Hunt filed a motion to withdraw LB 168, her bill to
classify the provision of conversion therapy as child abuse. “With the
support of many LGBTQ+ advocates, I have made the decision to withdraw
LB168, my bill to classify conversion therapy as child abuse,” Hunt
said. “Conversion therapy, of course, is child abuse, and I believe in
protecting children by holding the institutions and providers of this
abuse accountable. “From survivors of conversion therapy and their
advocates, I learned that parents are often tricked, lied to, and misled
into placing their children into faith-based counseling without the
knowledge that they are subjecting their children to conversion therapy.
I share the position of LGBTQ advocate organizations like The Trevor
Project and Born Perfect that our focus should be on those who
administer these treatments, not on parents. “I believe in educating
parents about the effects of conversion therapy, the predatory nature of
many faith-based counseling centers, and helping parents realize that
being LGBTQ+ is not a choice and that their children should be loved as
they are and do not need to be cured. For that reason, I am withdrawing
LB168. I ask supporters to focus on LB167, my bill to prohibit licensed
medical providers from administering conversion therapy.” LB 167 is
scheduled in the Judiciary Committee today at 1:30pm in the Warner
Chamber at the Capitol.

The well-financed ADF, which used to be known as the Alliance Defense Fund and is now known as Alliance Defending Freedom, swooped into Lincoln in the person of Matt Sharp to oppose any restrictions on conversion "therapy." The ADF has been to Nebraska before; in 2012 it failed to kill LB912 (banning municipalities from passing gay rights laws unless such legislation exists in Nebraska statutes (which would make local laws unnecessary)) and it failed later that year to kill an amendment to the Omaha Charter protecting LGBTs from arbitrary bias.
Sharp said this to KETV: "What this does is kick the client out of the driver's seat and tells them what goals are permissible and which are not, which conversations you can have, and which you cannot."
Megan Hunt said her bill doesn't tell counselors what they can promise unhappy gays, it just doesn't allow them to charge for "therapy" that has been widely debunked by the professional organizations of both psychologists and psychiatrists.

Maynard (Bob "Gilligan's Island" Denver) slyly flashes a nipple to the CBS eye while trying to talk his best buddy Dobie Gillis (Dwayne Hick­man) into taking off all his clothes. Whoever said 1950s television was a vast waste­land obviously didn't know where to look.